Te Whakairo

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Te Whakairo documents the journey of Māori carvers bringing in a whakairo at New Zealand’s Scott Base in Antarctica.

Te Whakairo is a short film by Elanti Media that documents the journey that James York (Ngāi Tahu / Ngāpuhi) and Poutama Hetaraka (Ngātiwai / Ngāi Tahu) took to carve and install a whakairo at New Zealand’s Scott Base in Antarctica. We acknowledge Tohunga Whakairo Te Warihi Hetaraka and Fayne Robinson for their leadership in this project. Arielle Kauaeroa Monk was also an integral part of the team.

The Whakairo gives form to a conversation about the importance of Antarctic science and research to understand and respond to climate change and the common values of mātauranga Māori and science to understand the complexity of the global ecosystem – of which humanity is just one part.

You can read more in the booklet “Te kawe ngā kī i te Tonga“.

The film screened during the seminar series and is now publicly available through the seminar recording.

The Whakairo was directed and produced by Vanessa Wells who has been working with the International Antarctic Centre on several other short movie projects. The film first premiered at Show Me Shorts Festival in Auckland, in October 2019. It has since been officially selected for multiple venues: